String musical instrument.



e. w. DAV IS.. STRING MUSlCAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED JULYIS. I911. RENEWED AUG. 16

. 1 9 1 5. Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- G. W. DAVIS.. STRING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION F|LED 1ULY15. 1911. nsuzwzn AUG. 16,1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. DAVIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 FRED J. SMITH, OF CHICAGO,

' ILLINOIS.

STRIN MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

Application filed July 15, 1911, Serial No. 638,720. Renewed Atgust 16, 1915. Serial No. 45,823.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE W. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in String Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specifica tion.

My invention relates to musical instruments and refers particularly to so-called box instruments such as guitars, mandolins, violins and the like. It has heretofore been customary to construct these box instruments with comparatively thin side walls which are braced in order to give the necessary strength.

i It is the object of my invention to construct box instruments in such a manner that the sides will have sufficient strength without the use of braces. I accomplish this result by preferably making the side member with an integrally formed extension on its inner surface, this extension being of semi-circular shape and having its upper and lower edges in contact with the top and bottom of the box instrument, thereby forming sound chambers substantially triangular in cross-section, these chambers preferably communicating with each other by means of suitable apertures. By this construction, I obtain great strength on the side of the instrument so that it becomes entirely unnecessary to employ braces and at the same time the smooth interior affords great resonance.

A further object of my invention consists in using such a shape of instrument that it may be easily and cheaply constructed. I accomplish this by making the shape of the instrument in the form of perfect arcs of circles of suitable diameters, the different arcs being joined by glue, or the like, in the well known manner. By constructing an instrument in this manner, it will be apparent that the various arcs may be easily turned on a lathe and joined to obtain the desired shape inIthe finished instrument. 7

These and other advantages of my invon tion will-be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings which show: a preferred embodiment of my .improvements and in which Figurel is a plan of a guitar, aportion or the. box-being broken away to show the interior construction; Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section through the box taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a front elevation and partly sectional view taken on the line 4-1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a transverse section and end elevation through the neck and its attached bracket taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a plan of a modified form of construction used for the box of a guitar, the top being removed; and Fig. 7 is a plan of the box of a violin made in accordance with the provisions of my invention.

In the embodiment of my invention illus trated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, 10 is the box of a guitar, this box comprising the top 11 and the bottom 12. .In the top 11 is provided the aperture 13 for the free passage of sound. The side member of the box consists of the vertical portion 14: extending from the edge of the top 11 to the edge of the bottom 12, and being united thereto by glue or in any. other well known and suitable manner. Preferably integral with the portion 14 is the reinforcing extension 15 having a curved inner surface. as best shown in Figs. 2 and .3, and comprises the upper member 16 and the lower member 17. The portion adjacent to the edge of the upper member 16 abuts against the top 11 and similarly the portion adjacent the edge of the lower member 17 abuts against the bottom 12. In this way the upper sounding chamber 18 and lower sounding chamber 19 are formed, which serve to reinforce the sound within the main chamber of the instrument and to produce greater resonance. I prefer to connect these two chambers by means of the apertures 20. Although I have described the inner surface of the extension 15 as being curved and this is in fact my preferred construction, the shape of this surface may be varied within wide limits. For example, the upper member 16 might be straight and meet a similar strai ht lower member 17 at an angle, thereby forming a V-shaped inner surface. the completed box of my instrument. I join a number of side sections. eachof which is made in the form of a perfect are of a circle and may readily be turned on a lathe. For example, in Fig.1 is seen the large base section 21 and the endsection 22, the latter be-- ing in the form of an arc of a circle of smaller radius than the radius of the are In order to form 37 when the neck in which the section 21 is formed. The sections 21 and 22 might be directly joined, it

desired, but I prefer to insert intermediate sections 23. In the case of these intermediate sections, the extension 15 is provided on the convex surface instead'of on the concave surface as in the case of sections 21 and 22. Suitably attached to the top 11 is the transversely disposed bridge 24 above which and extending toward the rear is the tail piece 25. This tail piece engages the block 26 and is firmly held in position by means of engagement with the peg 27 through the instrumentality of the gut 28 according to the well known construction. The forward end of the tail piece 25 is provided with a plurality of apertures 29 each. of which has a forwardly extending slot 30.

In register with these apertures and slots and directly below the same is the recess or socket 31 of the bridge 2%. The knotted end of each string 32 is held in position by one of the slots 30 while the knot at the extreme end of the string is received in the recess 31 inthe bridge 24. For the sake of ornament pegs 33 may be inserted in the holes 29. The various strings 32 extend forwardly over the neck 3-1 and are attached to the string keys 35 in the well-known manner.' The neck 31 is constructed with a downward ex-' tension 36 to which, as best shown in Fig; 5, a bracket 37 is attached by means of the screws 38. This bracket has two lateral ears 39 each of which has an aperture 40. .iiounted on the front end of the side-section 22 is a metallic bracket 41 held in position by the screws 42. Passing through this bracket and anchored to the inner surface of the side section 22 are the bolts 43 which pass through the apertures of the bracket 34 is placed in position. The nuts 4-1 are then applied thereby securely attaching the neck to the box 10. It will be noted that a firm and rigid union is obtained between the neck 34; and the box 10 by means of my construction, since the side members of the box are much stronger than in the ordinary construction. The portion 45 of the finger board 34 extends over the front portion of the top 11 and. as clearly shown in Fig. 2. by my improved construction, is preferably maintained at a slight distance from the top so that the vibrations of the top by means of the strings may not be subject to interference. WVhen it is desired to remove the neck 34: from the box 10 it is only necessary to loosen the strings 34: and remove the nuts 14 from the bolts 13. The bracket 37 is thus freed from its engagement with the bracket 42 and the parts may be readily separated and packed in a small s ace for ease of transportation.

In Fig. 6 is shown a slightly modified form of construction by means of which the shape of the box 10 may be varied. It will be apparent that in this modification the intermediate sections 23 are made somewhat longer than the sections 23 illustrated in Fig. 1. By altering the proportions of the parts and the radii of the arcs of the various sections, it will be evident that many different shapes of instruments may readily be obtained.

The embodiment of my invention illustrated in Fig. 7 is particularly adapted for use in a violin. The sections 21*, 22 and the intermediate sections 23 are constructed as arcs of circles in the same manner as sections 21, 22 and 23 illustrated in Fig. 1, while the top 11 has a shape correspondingly modified. In this case, the openings 13 of the usual style are used instead of the single opening 13 of Fig. 1 which is the form of construction ordinarily employed for a guitar. The sound waves in the interior of the box are unimpeded within the. latter by reason of the smooth interior surface of the extension 15 and finally escape through the opening 13, orin the case of a: violin through the openings 13.

Many changes may be made in the detailed construction of the parts I have described without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

1 claim:

I 1. A musical instrument comprising a box having a top and bottom, and a side member between said top and bottom, said side member having an inner and an outer wall joined at their central portions, whereby a pair of sound chambers is formed between said outer and inner walls, one of said chambers being bounded by said top and the other by said bottom, substantially as described.

2. A musical instrument comprising a box having a top and bottom. a side member between said top and bottom, said side .member having an inner and an outer wall joined at their central portions, whereby a. pair of sound chambers is formed between said outer and inner walls,'one of said chambers being bounded by said top and the other by said bottom, and passages through the joined portion of said walls and connecting said sound chambers, substantially as described.

3. A musical instrument, comprising a box having a top and a bottom, and a side member between said top and said bottom, said side member having a longitudinal inward extension with a. curved inner surface, the edges of said extension being in contact with said top and said bottom, substantiallyas described. 7

4. A musical instrument, comprising a box having a top and bottom, a side member having an. upper'and a lower sound chamber formed therein and also having a concave inner surface, and passages connecting said upper and said lower sound chambers, substantially as described.

5. A musical instrument, comprising a box having a top, and a plurality of side sections connected to said top, said side sections forming the periphery of said box, each of said sections having a curvature correspond-- ing to the arcof a circle and also having an inward extension, said extensions joining each other and being continuous around the inside of said box, substantially as described.

6. A musical instrument, comprising a top,

GEORGE W. DAVIS.

Witnesses HENRY M. HUxLEY, ELLA E. COTTLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

